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MARY COOGAN was born in Yonkers,
New York. Her mother Celia was a native of County
Roscommon, and brought over a strong love for music,
singing and dance when immigrating to New York. Her
father Jim was a first generation Irish American accordion
player
and was greatly influenced by the Irish American music
of the forties.
Immersed in a household of Irish
music, Mary’s first exposure to the Irish tenor
banjo was hearing Barney McKenna on an old recording
of the Dubliners. A banjo came into the house through
a friend of the family who had a Vega Wonder and Mary
began picking tunes with her father. As a teenager
she taught herself to play guitar, mandolin, and tenor
banjo, listening largely to the recordings of Mick
Moloney, The Boys of the Lough, and The Bothy Band,
as there were no plectrum players in the area.
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about Mary Coogan
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